The Fire That The Eagle Carried
by Follower of Light
Summary: All things have a beginning. From the rise of the fire nation by abnormal means to it's role on the world stage in the 21st century, The Land of Fire contends with many influences from the West and the East. And Ultimately end up in the third world war. Naruhina
1. Prologue Part 1

**I don't know if I actually need a disclaimer, or if having one really matters. But here's one for any lawyer's out there. I do not own Naruto, Any part of human history, or anything else I might end up using.**

Grey. That's the color of Germany now. They sky is grey, the ground is grey, maybe the tree's are grey. That could be my imagination I suppose. Grey fits the mood of the Germans now, it is no longer a jubilant yellow or red like it was in June of 1940. I suppose you're wondering who the hell this pessimist is and why you're listening to me ramble. The name is Dormor, First sergeant of the 3rd company. I would list our regiment and division, but those aren't around anymore.

Thing's have fallen apart since we invaded Poland in 1939. Our mighty military machine is falling apart; our people are being slaughtered by the savage Bolsheviks or being occupied by the Americans. Our last great offensive in Belgium stopped short of it's objective and once again we are retreating. And just two weeks ago, the Americans and the British crossed over the Rhine! That's where I just came from.

So where am I now? Not where I'm supposed to be. My company was reduced to 65 men fit for action, and we were scheduled to move to the eastern front. Our Commander, captain Shaffer, refused to send us to certain death against the Russians. At the time, I had no idea what he could do about it. But he surprised me, and now we're standing in a harbor. I still don't know what we're doing here.

"First Sergeant Dormor!" That would be 1st Lieutenant Strauss.

"Yes sir?" He's not the type that likes delayed replies. It doesn't matter if he's talking to a seventeen-year-old Private or in my case a forty eight-year-old First Sergeant that fought in the last war.

"The commander is gathering up all NCO's and officer's for a briefing. Get your ass in gear! You're the only one that's late!" What a disrespectful piece of shit. Oh well, even if he is half my age, he's my superior. I got up from my crate and jogged over to him and we started walking to the lorry the commander was using for a temporary head quarters. Six months ago, there would have been well over two dozen sergeants and officers for the two hundred and fifty-man company. Now with sixty-five men, there were only 7 sergeants and a corporal.

The captain was a young man from Munich. Though if I'd just met him, I'd peg him at thirty. The war has aged him heavily; he's been our commanding officer since 1941. The other soldiers in attendance were a mix of old timers and lower enlisted that were promoted to fill the holes in the chain of command. One of them, Sergeant Adelheim, is smoking a cigar. I don't know where the hell he got that.

"Gentlemen, I am way too damn tired for a speech. So I'm just going to explain what I want to do and why I want to do it. See that ship?" He motioned to a large freighter moored about two hundred meters away. "That ship belongs to a distant cousin of mine. My cousin isn't a German he's a Spaniard. And since he flies a neutral flag, we might be able to use his ship as a way out of this damn mess. He plans to sale for neutral Spanish Guinea. It's a shitty rat hole in Africa. But it's not crawling with allies and it's certainly not over run with the SS or Gestapo. I want to put our men on that ship and hide there until the war ends. It's either this or the eastern front."

I don't know how I'm supposed to feel at this point, excited maybe? I had just resigned myself to death at the hands of the Russians and now the Captain is offering us a second chance? This man is now my favorite person in the German Army. The expressions of the other noncommissioned officers are a little harder to read. None of them seem disgusted at this obvious act of cowardice and desertion. The goose-stepping hitlerites in our company are mostly gone, the men that remain are just men doing a job. Sergeant Breuer is the first man to speak up. I probably should have voiced my opinion first as the First Sergeant, but Breuer was pretty damn quick

"Sir, if we do this, our families will probably we tortured or killed by the Nazi's. I don't think I could leave my mother and sister behind to save my own skin. I'd rather die at the front." He did raise a good point. My brother had a family in Stuttgart.

"Most of our men come from places that are under allied control at this point. Most of Germany is occupied; the Russians will be attacking Berlin within the month by my guess. By the time the Gestapo realize we're gone, the war may be over. We only need to hide for a few months at the most." The captain raised another good point. Germany was finished; we wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer. There are just too many Americans and Russians and equipment and we don't have as much in the way of supplies anymore. The more I thought about it, the more I liked Captain Shaffer's plan. I finally raised my hand. I had to cover some other concerns.

"Sir, how are we going to get food or any other kind of supplies? We won't have the army supply chain and we don't have much in the way on marks. And are we going to be armed when we leave?" Corporal Schultz and Sergeant Voss nodded at this. Neither of them would be going anywhere if they couldn't eat or defend themselves. I would bet most of the soldiers in our company would share this sentiment.

"In regards to food, my cousin called in a favor with a very wealthy merchant from Sweden on his way here and secured enough food for us and several hundred other people for six months." The mention of other people piqued my interest. Who the hell could they be? The commander continued. "As for ammunition, I got in touch with a supply officer that didn't want to end up in a Russian POW camp for the rest of his life. His supplies, weapons, and ammunition will be ours. The only catch was that we'd have to let his men and himself tag along with us. The only figure I have is 250,000 rounds for our assorted small arms. As for the rest of what he's bringing, I can't say."

That is a shit load of ammo for our small infantry company. The captain said several hundred other people though. Are they civilians, or maybe soldiers from other units? Sergeant Farber beat me to the punch. I am really slow today.

"Sir, who exactly will be coming with us?" Shaffer didn't waste any time beating around the bush with this one.

"There will be 300 civilians joining us that don't feel like sticking around. There will be about 20 men from the quartermaster's unit, and a final 35 infantryman from another company that feel the same as we do. That's just the people on our little ship. A U-boat will be joining us as an escort. Another distant cousin of mine that wants out of this war." So we have submarine and a rogue freighter fleeing Germany in the closing months of world war two. Someone should write a book about this someday.

"Do any of you feel compelled to stay and serve out your duty to the fatherland? Or will you leave with me?" He was blunt about this. I liked that about the commander. No one seemed to object to his scheme, so we were dismissed with the orders to tell our men only what they needed to know. The privates were not getting a say in this. I put out the order for everyone to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. Soldiers needed to have their kits backed and weapons cleaned at all times. I inspected the men twice a day and made them go through three emergency evacuation drills. The days went by and people from out of town began to show up. Most of the civilians were young. I caught a lot of them paying Captain Shaffer in gold. I guess that's how he's repaying his cousin. I figured out why so many of the civilians were young women. They came from respectable families and they didn't want the savage Russians or hillbilly Americans violating their daughters.

Sending them away with a bunch of horny soldiers didn't seem like a great way of accomplishing this mission, but I suppose my boys are still German… Except for Private First Class Gunter, he's an Austrian.

A week came and went. The civilians were staying on the ship while we stayed in the warehouse with the supplies that were starting to show up. The soldiers from the other company made it too. I was going over some supply manifests when I loud knock on the beam I was leaning against startled me from my task. I looked up to see Sergeant Mueller standing over me. The bastard was always a sneaky one. He had to be, he was our only surviving company sniper.

"What're you looking at First Sergeant?" He gave me a confused look when I shot him a glare for startling me.

"I'm going over the supply lists. A very dull task that I wish I could saddle you with." Mueller laughed and sat down next to me using his helmet as a seat. He grabbed some of the papers I hadn't looked at yet and read them.

"What the hell do we need a movie camera for? It says we have 20 camera's and 200 meters of film!" He went on to question why we had farm equipment too. I honestly didn't know why we had those things either.

"Maybe the Commander wants to trade with the locals? Or maybe we may need to permanently plant our roots somewhere. I guess it never hurts to have those things."

"Oh come on First sergeant! I know of four farmers' in our company! I think the Austrian raised chickens if that counts. And I will bet you five marks most of these aristocratic civilians don't have know jack shit about farming!" Mueller was always the eccentric one of the company. I don't know how he made sergeant with the attitude he has. He's the only one that will talk to me this informally too. I guess that's why I like him so much. And he saved my life once by shooting a British sniper that had me pinned.

"It's not our job to question the captain's order's. Besides, I doubt he knew about half of these things before they showed up. We should be thankful that we have plenty of weapons and ammunition."

"We get any antitank weapons?"

"Yes we have one Pak 36 with 150 shells." He raised his eyebrows here comes the sarcasm.

"Oh boy! An Army door-knocking device! Did we liberate an ammo dump from 1941 or something?" I laughed to myself. Most of the weapons heavier weapons were obsolete weapons from 1942. He was close though.

"We have some Panzerschrecks too, if we fight armor we can take them out." He didn't seem convinced though.

"With respect Dormor, if we have to fight armor we're fucked." I didn't say anything to him. He was right about this. I believe the commander would surrender before fighting a force with tanks. We have too many noncombatants. He didn't stick around to finish the conversation. Mueller stood up and left without a word. I don't blame him; the war has taken a heavy toll on all of us. I went back to reading the lists.

Another week passed before I was called before captain Shaffer. I stood at attention as he finished writing something down on a piece of paper. He handed the paper to a soldier and told him to take it to captain Santiago, the owner of the ship we'd be sailing on. He stood up and looked at me.

"Stand at ease First Sergeant, the time has come. I want you to brief the squad leaders as soon as you leave here. The men are to sleep in uniform and their kits are to be packed by 1800. I want everyman with the exception of guards to be sleeping by 2000. The men will be roused and formed up by 0230. We will be boarding the ship by 0300 and casting off by 0330. Is this understood?"

"Yes sir!" They were really simple orders essentially a bedtime and a wake up call.

"Good. Any man that causes us to be late will have the shit smoked out of them understood?" Once again, a pretty simple order.

"I think Sergeant Hoffman can handle that with ease sir." Captain Shaffer nodded and dismissed me from his presence. I walked over to my corner and had a private gather up the NCO's. I told them what the captain said and they dispersed to tell their men.

The next morning was rather cold for an April morning. One hundred and twenty men stood in formation in the dark. The dock lights were making their coal scuttle helmets shine.

"Company!" I yelled.

"Platoon!" The platoon sergeants yelled.

"Attention!" The men went from parade rest to attention like machines. Drill and ceremony is always something to behold. "Right…"

"Right…" The platoon sergeants echoed.

"Face!" The entire company moved as one to face right.

"File from the right, forward… March!" Starting from the file on the right the soldiers marched onto the ship. Our journey had begun.

We had been at see for 3 weeks when the massive storm hit us. I don't know where it came from, it was clear the entire day. I don't think it was a hurricane, but what does a former farmer from Bavaria know? I have never seen lightening so loud and vivid in my life. I wasn't scared, but I found myself trembling all the same. The men and civilians were shitting their pants. Captain Santiago said he had never seen a storm that bad before, and he had a legitimate concern whether the ship would capsize or not. But it the end we remained afloat with no loss of life. Or that's what I thought originally. We lost contact with the U-boat. I don't know if it sank or if we were just carried away from it. But in the end it didn't matter; we were on our own.

Things started getting worse. The storm threw us off course, and Santiago admitted we were lost. His crew couldn't navigate by the stars either; they couldn't find any they recognized. We tried to keep this from getting out as long as possible, but the rumor mill works by itself. After a few weeks of just going in whatever direction Santiago thought would work, we ran out of gas and began to drift. We still had enough food for 3 months, but that wouldn't stop people from panicking. Right when things started to look really ugly, a civilian started screaming his head off. I couldn't make out what he was saying and soon more voices were adding to his own. Feeling a riot, I grabbed my Schmeisser and ran onto the deck. It wasn't a riot at all. I couldn't see why people were so jubilant. I began yelling to get people to be quiet but that didn't work. I was about to shoot some rounds into the air when Mueller worked his way from the crowd and came to me.

"Mueller! What the hell is going on?" He smiled a very rare Mueller smile and pointed in the direction the crowd of soldiers and civilians were facing.

"Land!"

While most people were excited to have found land, I wasn't so easily convinced. How were we going to get there? We were out of gas! I brought this up to the captain and we went to Santiago. The Spaniard said that the current may take us in and we might run aground. Only time would tell.

That time only turned out to be four hours. The ship ran aground about one hundred meters from the shore. Orders were given and cargo and personnel were being loaded on lifeboats and taken ashore. The soldiers and the weapons went first for defensive purposes. Half of them dug trenches while the other half stood on watch. We had been digging for several hours when a soldier that was on watch approached me.

"First Sergeant?" I put down my spade and looked up at him.

"What do you need Wilhelm?"

"I don't think we're in Africa First Sergeant. This place is Temperate!" He was right. The area we landed on was a beach of course. And we were digging our defenses about a kilometer inland. We were half a click or so from any trees but when I looked through some binoculars, they didn't look tropical at all. In fact, they reminded him of some pictures he'd seen of main land Japan. And to support the private's claim, it wasn't overly humid or hot.

"Go find Sergeant Mueller and have him report to me with his squad. I want them combat ready." I turned to another soldier and told him to tell Captain Shaffer that I wanted to send a patrol out and requested his permission. Both soldiers moved to their respective objectives.

Mueller and his seven men were standing by fully equipped when the runner returned from the captain.

"First Sergeant! The Captain says you can send the patrol out!" I nodded and the soldier went back to digging. I approached Sergeant Mueller and his squad.

"Alright listen up. We don't have shit for maps so a compass is all you have for land navigation. Don't get your Asses lost! Here's your mission. Scout out the area for a more defensible position. Next, try to find some locals and establish relations with them. Don't be stupid and shoot anyone unless you have too. I want you back before sundown. Am I clear?"

No one raised their hands so I took it as understanding. They marched past the trenches in formation and disappeared into the trees. Several days went by and still no sign of Mueller and his squad. We had dug trenches and dugouts to live in. You wouldn't know we were there unless you walked on top of us. All of the cargo was ashore and secured in the parameter. In all, our position had had 435 souls inside. This is including the 15-man crew from the freighter and Mueller's squad. After 3 more days of sitting around and nothing happening. Three men burst from the tree line in a dead run. I had eyes on them in seconds. Through my binoculars I could tell it was Mueller and two of his men. They still had all of their equipment, but I noticed right away he was missing five men. The men were on alert in minutes and rifles and machine guns covered the entire parameter. We even had 3 mortars in the center of the complex. Mueller and what was left of his squad jumped into the trench and I made my way over to them.

"What the hell happened? Where are your men?" He waited to catch his breath and looked me in the eyes when he spoke.

"We made it about 2 hours past the tree line when we were jumped. We didn't even get to shoot; they were all over us. I broke one's skull with my rifle and Albert stabbed one with his bayonet, but we didn't stick around. We ran as fast as we could and got lost. Two of my men are still out there somewhere and I know three were killed in the fighting." Mueller wasn't happy over the loss of his men. None of the company would be happy over it. But this is war, and men die.

"Were they Americans? British? French Foreign Legion maybe? Why'd they attack you without using firearms?" I didn't want to interrogate Mueller, but I needed to know the details so we could better face the enemy. Mueller was a good and experienced soldier; he understood this.

"They weren't wearing uniforms that I could tell First Sergeant. Though they were wearing armor. And they didn't use guns because they didn't have any. Not that I saw anyway." No guns and Armor? What kind of enemy are we facing? "They had swords and spears too. Their leader was so fast it was beyond my understanding. He was just on top of my point man with a knife and then he was on my second man. The only reason we escaped was he didn't have the time to get all of us before we disappeared." I was about to say something when I soldier cried out. I looked over the trench and saw a large group of people standing at the edge of the tree line. Looking through my Bino's I could see exactly what Mueller was talking about. Their armor was oriental and so were their weapons. I could see fifty of them and they were standing by the five hundred meter marker!

"Where's my Artillery Observer?" I yelled over my shoulder. We were lucky to have someone who knew how to call for fire.

"Right here First Sergeant!" I handed him my binoculars.

"Blow those fuckers straight to hell!" The soldier nodded and looked down range and then got of the radio.

"Stove Pipe this is Eagle eyes, direction 6321 distance 500, fire for effect, over!" He waited for a second and then we turned to me. "12 rounds incoming First Sergeant!" I nodded and watched the enemy with a pair of binoculars I stole from sergeant Breuer. The enemy was just standing there. The probably didn't see us. The sun was to our backs so it wouldn't reflect off of our lenses. They might even be trying to figure out what happened to Mueller and his men. A few second later, the first three mortar rounds landed amongst the warriors. The observer was dead on with his fire mission. Shrapnel tore into the warriors as they stood in the open. Blood and limbs flew through the air as the mortars rounds cut down men. As soon as it started it was over. The band of brigands had been reduced to a handful of wounded survivors. They tried to scramble away and most of them succeeded. A lone shot rang out from the trench and a warrior fell. I looked to my left to see Mueller aiming down his scope.

"I got to kill two more of these bastards before their debt is paid." I looked down range and nodded at the carnage we had wrought.

"All in due time Sergeant. All in due time."

I had to explain to the commander what had happened later that day. He wasn't happy over the three men we had lost but was happy about the way I had handled the problem. I had sent out Sergeant Farber's squad to see if any of the warriors had survived, and they brought back two. They appeared to be a race that we had never seen before. They were human, but didn't follow any of they racial norms. They seemed to be a blend of Asian and Caucasian. One had silver hair and the other bad black. They both seemed rather young. We tried to talk with them, but they spoke some language no one in the entire fort understood. It sounded sort of like Japanese but it wasn't the same. We had their hands and feet bound and stuck them in a 3-meter deep hole with a metal fence cover that was used as a bullet casing collection point. I was observing them when a corporal from the quartermaster unit approached me.

"First Sergeant, my I offer you a suggestion?" It wasn't very often a corporal offered me suggestions, but he looked older then a normal corporal. He was probably one of the later draftee's.

"Go ahead Corporal."

"I was doing some thinking. These people don't use guns they use swords right? Well trenches seem kind of pointless against swords and spears."

"Being below ground level hides us from them." He nodded and then continued.

"Yes it does First Sergeant, but as soon as they find us that advantage is lost. I think we need to construct a wall." A wall? Like a castle? Is this guy for real?

He must have guessed what I was thinking because he quickly explained. "We can make a wooden palisade out of the trees nearby. It won't take very long and we have plenty of labor and tools for the job. It will allow us to see further and they won't be able to simply run into our base or sneak in. On an unrelated note, we need to start farming and fast! We only have enough supplies for two and a half more months. It may already be to late." He was right about the food situation. The commander had already started working on that with the civilian leader and the quartermaster. But he did have a point on the wall.

"I'll bring your suggestions to the commander. Anything else?" He shook his head and walked away. When I told captain Shaffer about the wall, he thought it was a great idea. I really didn't think he would. Officers will never cease to amaze me.

2 weeks later we had a wooden wall with a walkway on it surrounding our position. We had 2 gates on it, one at the front and one facing the beach. We also had plowed and sewn 10 acres of farmland. In these weeks we didn't see any more locals. We have had a few of the civilians working with the prisoners. They've been teaching them German and trying to communicate with them. As you'd expect, not a whole lot of progress had been made. Something must have happened though, because I heard one swearing in clear German one day as I was walking by the pen. That gave me a good laugh. Nothing happened for days, and then weeks, and then months. After month three, we were living off of our own crops and whatever game wondered into our kill zone. We weren't eating like kings but we were surviving. Some of the men remarked that we were probably eating more then the soldiers did in the last war. I shuddered at the memory, if only they knew. One month later I heard that the captives were speaking decent German. I don't know how the civilians did it, but they must have been teachers back in Germany.

The silver haired prisoner was brought before the captain, Lt. Strauss, Santiago, and myself later that day. According to the teachers, he was the better speaker. We still had to speak slowly and clearly, but he understood us. The first question we asked was simple.

"Why did you attack our men?" Shaffer figured it was a simple question. He was right, slowly the local answered.

"You are trespassing on our land." I worried that this would be his answer. Especially since we can't fix this problem short of buying the land from them, but with what?

"Why didn't you try talking to us first?" This was the LT. I figured this question wasn't relevant.

"Warriors don't talk. We are warriors and so were the people we met in the woods. Talking is for leaders." I grimaced at his answer. Did we really land in a tribal area? There had to be some kind of civilization around here somewhere. I asked my first question.

"Who is your leader? We may want to talk to him and make peace." Shaffer nodded in agreement.

"Our leader is Shogun Minamoto. He has ruled our lands for thirty years and is a just ruler. If you want to talk with him, let me go and I will bring him here." I raised an eyebrow at that. How dumb does he think we are? We can't trust him.

"How can we trust you? And even if you are honest with us, how can you be sure he will come?" Asked Shaffer. The young man seemed like he was ready for this question.

"He is my father. I am his heir. He will listen to me when I tell him that you desire peace. And he will look favorably upon you when I tell him of the reasonable conditions you've kept me in." If the little shit isn't selling us a sack of lies, this might be worth trying. I asked another question. This one was military based.

"What is the name of your country? And those men that we killed, were they great warriors or were they regulars?" He grinned a nasty grin at this question.

"We are the Land of Fire. It is a small nation now, but it will be strong! And as for the warriors you killed, they were militia. Farmers called to arms. Nothing more then that, the elite soldiers have yet to take to the field. I would send me to my father so we can discuss peace before it's too late!" He was going to say more I believe but Shaffer held up his hand.

"It's been over three months since you attacked us and no offensive has taken place. Why is that?" I figured the kid would be hard pressed to answer this one. But I guess not.

"We attack when the time is right. That doesn't always mean right away. You killed so many men in such a short time; he may be gathering large numbers of men. He can't do that during harvest season." The little shit has a point. We're trapped between a rock and a hard place on this one. The captain motion to the two soldiers and they took the prisoner away.

"So what's the plan gentlemen? We take him at his word and attempt to parley for peace or hold him and try to call his bluff?"

"If we kick him out of the fort with a blindfold on he won't be able to give defensive details. So how would it hurt us? We'd still have another captive." Said LT. Strauss. I was inclined to agree. We didn't have the manpower to fight a war against anybody. If we can sue for peace, it might be a really good idea. This is what I told the commander. We talked about it for a good two hours before we came to the conclusion. In the end we decided to let the kid go. We put a hood over his head and dropped him outside with 3 days worth of food and water and a knife and told him to make good on what he promised.


	2. Prologue Part 2

**Just a repost with some scene breaks. **

The kid has been gone for months. It's starting to get cold here. By our calendar, it's November 4th, 1945. I really wonder how the war ended, or if it's still going on. We still haven't seen any of the populace since our initial encounter. Things are starting to get pretty grim here. The food we gathered from the fields isn't going to be enough to get us through the winter. And we're running out of medicine. We've lost six people to disease since we landed here; three of them were soldiers. By our quartermasters estimations we have enough food to last another month and a half. The man is a logistical genius, but has no sense when it comes to policy. He wants us to send a party of men into the woods to try and find these people and trade with them for food. That by itself isn't too bad, but he wants to trade weapons and munitions! Shaffer didn't approve of that idea, but he did agree with trade. The captain ordered that we stand fast until the kid came back or three more weeks had past.

Waiting is pointless, the kid should have returned by now. We only have six weeks of food left; we need to go now! But go where? I couldn't answer that question.

So we waited.

XXX

"First Sergeant! There are people in the tree line!" Yelled a sentry from the wall. We only had twenty men on guard duty these days. The captain has become complacent. So if this is an attack, we're in big trouble. I ran up the stairs and joined the soldier on the wall. I could barely see them, but they were out there.

"You have any binoculars private?" He shook his head. I had left mine in my quarters, and the only weapon I had on me was my Walther. "Go and get me a pair of bino's then. And start sending any soldier you see to the walls with his kit. We may have a fight on our hands!" The soldier nodded and ran off. I just watched the people with my God given optics. They were coming towards us at an alarming speed. They were at the walls before any additional soldiers could arrive. But they didn't attack; they stopped short of the walls and stared up at me. There are five of them.

"Uh… who goes there?" Yelled a private to my left. The kid was aiming his Mauser right at the center person. If we were a unit full of new recruits, I'd be worried about him accidentally shooting someone. But we were all veterans, and other sentries shouldered their weapons. Six bolt actions and a five-meter wall against five swords. I think the odds are in our favor.

One of the warriors removed his facemask and revealed himself as our former captive. It's funny, he was our captive for months and I never learned his name. He looked much healthier now, and he didn't look angry. That's a good sign I suppose. But we told us he'd bring their leader with them, who the hell are these guys? He spoke to us.

"I, Hiroshi Minamoto, have returned as I had promised!" My soldiers looked at each other with confusion. They were expecting some old king to be with him, not him and a group of bodyguards. A few more men made it to the walls. Our number rose to ten, and one of them had an MP 40.

"I thought you said you'd bring your father back with you!" I yelled down to him. I could see him grin.

"My father has been dead for several years. I am the ruling Shogun! Telling you about my father was a necessary falsehood to obtain my freedom! But do not be upset, for I will make good on my promise to pursue peace!" Well that is all interesting news. I guess who the ruler is doesn't really matter in the end. What does matter is trading for food and medicine.

"I am sure Captain Shaffer will be pleased to see you! If we have your word that you won't act with anymore dishonesty or violence, we will give you entry." Some of my soldiers fidgeted when I said that. They aren't letting their guard down.

"I Promise good conduct as long as I am within your walls." That was the best we were going to get I suppose. I ordered the soldiers at the gate to open it. Hiroshi entered with his men in toe. He stopped to look at the Pak 36 anti-tank gun for a second. I could tell his stare was making the three-man crew uneasy. It was position at an angle in a dugout to wipe out intruders that came through the main gate. I joined them at the gun and I was right about the gunners. The corporal in command was staring down one of the bodyguards. His hand was on his sidearm. It hit me that this soldier was one of the two soldiers from Mueller's squad.

"Excuse me Hiroshi, but I think we better go see Shaffer. He nodded to me and continued past the gun. The corporal continued to watch them as they walked. I quickly caught up with them. It occurred to me that the armor these bodyguards were wearing was rather light, and they only carried a sword. The looked like Japanese katanas.

"So… Dormor was it? What is your job here?"

"I'm the First Sergeant here. I'm third in command of our company."

"So why are you in my lands? What brought you to this place?" I don't know exactly how much this guy should know, but we needed this guy to trade with us. We're small fort with pretty straightforward defenses so it's not like operational security is a huge priority.

"We are war refugees. And I don't know why we are in your lands. A storm moved our shift off course and we landed on the first piece of land we saw." He nodded at this answer and then asked a question I probably shouldn't answer.

"I have been wondering. How did you destroy my militia several months ago? You didn't have the area laid with explosive tags, I would have seen them." What the hell is an explosive tag?

"I'm afraid I am not at liberty to say." When in doubt, say it's classified. The officers can sort this whole thing out. Hiroshi seemed so young. How could this guy be leading a nation? If it's a monarchy, he must have inherited his post. I don't like kings, Kaiser Wilhelm got so many of my friends killed for nothing. Hitler wasn't much better though. At least we crushed France this time.

He interrupted my thoughts before I could get to deep. "So there are only a small number of you. Thank your lucky stars that we didn't go to war with you. Hashirama and Madara would have destroyed you in a day." Two men destroying our entire company in one day? I'm calling bullshit on that one. We're too entrenched and too equipped for even a decent army to crush us in a single day.

"I'm sure they could…" I said. He sensed my disbelief but didn't comment on it. We reached the dugout that captain Shaffer was using for a headquarters building and I told the guard that we needed to see him.

"So what do you plan to do with us?" He smiled at me. It kind of unsettled me actually.

"We'll have to wait and see!" If your leader is a reasonable man, we may become friends!" That sounds way to good to be true. This guy ambushed our squad without warning and killed over half of them. The guard returned to his post.

"He'll see you now First Sergeant." I nodded and lead Hiroshi inside, or tried to. His guards were about to follow when the guard leveled his submachine gun and stood in the doorway. I think he was about to vocally object to their entrance but he never got the chance. There was a blur of movement and Hiroshi was no longer standing next to me. He was next to the guard holding his warrior's wrist. He had drawn his sword in such speed that we never even say it happen. The blade was just centimeters from the soldiers head. Hiroshi spoke quietly to his bodyguard in their own language and he sheathed his katana. To the German's credit, he never flinched or budged. Hiroshi came back to my side and we proceeded into the dugout. The kid was a whole head shorter then me and probably weighed forty kilo's less then me.

"So how old are you anyway? You look like you could be my son." He quirked an eyebrow at me, maybe they don't use that expression around here? Or maybe it's just rude to ask someone's age. At any rate, he didn't answer my question. He just ignored any further attempts at conversation and followed me into the commander's office. We still didn't have any real furniture other then what we stripped off of the ship. The table that captain Shaffer sat behind were several crates that had some of their sides removed and was nailed together. The only decoration was a small crucifix that was about six centimeters tall that rested in the upper right corner. Captain Shaffer was sitting behind his desk poring over some reports. One of them was an inventory of our food; I handed that to him not an hour ago. He didn't look up when we entered the room. I don't think he even noticed us. He was deep in thought.

"Excuse me sir, the Shogun is here to see you." He looked up at us and stood up. He didn't offer to shake his hand or anything. He folded his arms and looked Hiroshi in the eyes.

"What took you so long? You've been gone for months. And I believe you're mistaken First Sergeant, this is his son."

"No sir, he claims to be the Shogun himself. He told me he lied so we would release him. It was well played, that is a fact sir." Shaffer narrowed his eyes at the child warlord. One thing I've learned about captain Shaffer is that he is a proud man that does not like to be made a fool of. I think it has something to do with his ancestry. His forefathers hundreds of years ago were Teutonic knights.

"Is that a fact?" I don't know what the captain is playing at. Maybe he's playing it out so the shogun believes we're self sufficient and not threatened. I'm all for looking tough and not needing to rely on someone, but that isn't the case. If we don't get some sort of trade deal here, we may have to take food by force. I'm a soldier, not a bandit. Hiroshi didn't show any visible sign of impatience or that he'd taken offense… Nope his eyebrow's been twitching for a few minutes. I think the commander needs to get down to brass tacks before we piss this kid off.

"You wanted to discuss peace? I have returned to discuss peace. As to you're first question, I didn't feel the need to come back right away. I was on my way to conquer a minor territory when you obliterated one of my companies. I needed to finish that conquest. Once that was done, I saw that they're neighbor was weak, so I conquered them too. Interestingly enough, these territories were close to yours. You're now surrounded by The Land of Fire and the sea."

That actually didn't faze me or captain Shaffer. We both assumed that was the case anyway. When you don't know your surroundings, always assume the enemy is there. Neither Shaffer nor Hiroshi had any facial changes. This didn't surprise me at all. The commander was always good at politics and poker. He could keep a straight face. Our problem though was his pride. I really hope this isn't screwed up. Shaffer spoke:

"Is that so. I have a question for you now. How come your German has improved since you've been away? In fact, I think I hear a hint of Bavarian in your speech." Shit he was right! But how would he…?

"First Sergeant, The two men missing from sergeant Mueller's squad, was either of them from Bavaria?" I had to think about that one. I don't know every man in the company.

"I believe Private Gottschalk was from Bavaria sir. I'm not one hundred percent on that though."

"Orderly!" Yelled Shaffer. I civilian woman entered the room in a uniform that was way to big for her. One thing we had plenty of was clothes. Shaffer asked her to go find sergeant Mueller and bring him here. We still have a captive. If they have one of ours we might be able to get them exchanged. But how was this going to get us food? The orderly returned a moment later. Damn that was fast. Mueller must have been close by. Shaffer asked Mueller and when he received confirmation, he dismissed him.

"So, I have one of yours, and you have at least one of mine. So here's the deal: You give me back my soldiers and I give you back yours. We'll cease these petty squabbles that we're having and become peaceful neighbors. Does that sound good to you? Also, I think we need to negotiate trade rights between our two territories. We'll pay gold and cloth for food. We have a ship we can salvage for scrap metal too. Does this sound good to you? I can have this written in ten minutes."

Hiroshi smirked while Shaffer was talking. I don't think he noticed, but I sure as hell did. I think the captain might have over played his hand by talking about food. If this kid has half a brain he should think we're low on food. He spoke with confidence in reply to the captain's words.

"No. This is not to my satisfaction. You seem to be misunderstanding the situation captain. We are not equals. You are a small band of people that are squatting on my lands." Shaffer began to speak but Hiroshi held up his hand and kept talking. "I have a nation and you have a small wall with a few hundred people. Let me give you my terms, which you would be wise to accept. I want you to swear loyalty to the Land of Fire. You're people will be incorporated into my kingdom. Your people will not be molested and this land will be granted to you as a member of my nobility. Second, I want your weapons. My prisoners have taught me little in their use, but I have discovered a few of their prospects. I want you to start manufacturing them as well."

"I can't do this. Make guns I mean. We don't have the facilities nor the knowledge nor the experience. My people use the weapons but we don't know how to make them." Hiroshi was not pleased with Shaffer's interruption and his answer just made it worse.

"They seem relatively simple to me. Making wood and iron made into plain shapes does not take a master to do." I spoke up this time. I needed to reinforce the captain's point.

"Firearms, especially automatic ones, have many small moving parts that require machining or stamping machines to make. It is true that one man could make a gun by himself, but he would have to be a master. These things are not simple, not in the slightest. And I'm not just saying this because we don't want to make them. We simply can't. I'll take mine apart and show you if you don't believe me." Hiroshi stared directly into my eyes for a good thirty seconds before looking away.

"Fine. You can't make them. But I want some of them. I want thirty of your best men to serve my country under arms. And I want whatever you used to rout my men the first time we fought." So he wants weapons, loyalty, a fourth of our soldiers, and a mortar or two. Why on earth would we agree to these demands? This is like a miniature version of the Treaty of Versailles. Granted we probably couldn't last long without some sort of lifeline, this is too much.

"These terms are asinine!" Shaffer emphasized this with a slicing motion with his hand. "We will not submit to these outrageous terms of surrender. Bring upon us your legions; we will slaughter them at our walls!" Well I think any chances of a diplomatic solution have been nixed. We escaped one war to fight another. Hiroshi was furious. His face was a swarm of emotion for a minute then it went blank.

"I will give you a week to reconsider. If you do not change your mind, I will destroy you and take what I want by force. When I return in a week's time, run up a white flag from your gate and we will not lash out in anger. But if you do not change your mind, be ready to meet your end." He didn't wait for Shaffer's reply; he just left the room. I followed him until he and his retainers had left the walls. I returned to the command dugout immediately after.

"What are my orders sir?" The captain was rubbing his temples with his fingers. He didn't look up at me.

"Do you disagree with my decision First Sergeant?"

"No sir. We may be running out of food but we're still Germans. I remember all to well the results of accepting poor terms of surrender." Shaffer nodded. He rose and looked at me. His voice and posture were full of resolve.

"I don't expect this kid to honor his promise of a week's time. I think he's going to attack earlier."

"I would sir."

"And if that's the case, the men need to be ready. We can't arm the civilians; they'll just get in the way. They aren't trained for this. I want all men ready to fight at a moments notice. If the _Amis _could do it during their revolution, then we can do it now."

"Yes Sir."

"I also want all mortars on station. I know we have at least six. He told us awhile ago that those people we fought were militia, I want to see if his regular forces can stand up to the strength of the _Wehrmacht_."

"Yes sir. Might I make a suggestion?" He nodded and motioned for me to speak. I think it might be a good if we place Mueller in the woods to the east with a radio and a spotter. There's a hill a patrol found that offers a good view of the kill zone." He quirked an eyebrow at my suggestion.

"Don't you think that'll be a little obvious?"

"If we were fighting the allies yes, but these people don't know anything about snipers." He grinned and looked at a list.

"Put Private Wilhelm as spotter, he can take over as sniper if something happens to Mueller. I also want Private Kaufmann on the hill as an artillery observer. What's the point of having both observers in the same place?"

"I don't think there is one sir." I hope those poor bastards aren't ambushed like last time. "When do you want them to leave sir?" He thought for a minute.

"Send up the other two soldiers from Mueller's squad with an MG42." Why on earth would we put one of those up there? Shaffer explained without me even asking. "If they are discovered, three bolt actions aren't going to help them hold the hill."

"I believe the observer has an MP40 sir."

"Regardless, we have weapons to spare. Have them on that hill in three hours and have them start concealing their position. They will have food and water for a week's time, that is all first sergeant."

I left the dugout and went to find Mueller. It took me a few minutes but I found him talking with Sergeant Meyer.

"Sergeant Mueller!" He stopped talking and looked over at me. I pointed at the ground in front of me.

"Moving First sergeant!" He jogged over to me and gave me a quizzical look.

"What did I do first sergeant?"

"It's not what you did do, though I'm sure you've done a lot I don't know, it's what you're about to do." He raised his eyebrows and then got serious. "We're going to be attacked again, only this time it will be for keeps. The commander wants you to take Wilhelm from Sergeant Voss's squad and Kaufmann from Sergeant Farber's squad, plus you're two guys."

"And where am I to take them first sergeant?" I pointed in the direction of the hill even though the wall was in the way. He knew which hill I meant.

"Move to that hill and occupy the shit out of it. I want your scope there and Kaufmann's radio for fire missions. In the event we're attacked, kill as many as you can. Have Kaufmann call for fire when a target presents itself. Wilhelm will be your spotter and will take over for you if something happens to you."

"Wilhelm would be my choice. Why do my guys need to come though?"

"The commander wants them to requisition an MG42 to hold your position if attacked. Make sure you do not pack light on ammo."

"I know how those things eat bullet's First Sergeant." I nodded.

"Pack enough rations and water for a week. Don't bother with anything but your weapons, ammo, food, water, and cold weather gear. One more thing Sergeant, if we're over run and the position is taken, get the hell out of dodge at the first opportunity. Don't try to save us, you'd just be wasting your lives." Mueller laughed a little.

"If what we saw a few months ago is any indication, we won't be having any problems. But I understand first sergeant. What should we do if it comes to that?"

"Lay low and wait for the heat to die down. Then I don't know. We don't speak the language and we don't look like the locals. Just put as much distance from here as possible. Try to get out of this country."

"Is that all first sergeant?" I nodded and he left to round up his guys.

I awoke to an explosion and screams later that night. A soldier stuck his head into my dugout.

"First sergeant! We're under attack! The north wall is gone!" Gone? How the hell could a wall be gone?" I grabbed my submachine gun and the Bandelier and rushed outside.

It was still dark; my watch said it was 0342. There was erratic gunfire all over the place. I don't know what the hell they were shooting at; I couldn't see anything. I heard the dull roar of the PAK 36 and I saw a portion of the wall explode. It hit me that the entire wall was on fire. A bullet cracked past my ear and I hit the dirt. The soldier that woke me was next to me on the ground. I couldn't see a damn thing. Aside from the area's lit by the burning wall, everything was covered in darkness. A silhouette appeared by the wall and the soldier aimed at it. I slammed his rifle into the ground.

"We don't know if that's one of ours or not! Hold your fire unless you're sure!" We waited in the darkness for what felt like forever. I checked my watch and only fifteen minutes had passed. We crawled a few meters and rolled into a trench. It became quiet soon after that. No screams or gunfire or anything. We waited for a few more minutes and then we heard movement. Someone rolled into the trench we were in. I heard the soldier draw his bayonet and jump on the new comer.

"Take this you son of a bitch!" Right before he could finish him the intruder grabbed his wrist.

"It's me you jack ass! Sergeant Adelheim!" The soldier got off the Noncom and replaced his bayonet.

"What the hell has been going on Sergeant?" Adelheim crawled over to me and peaked over the trench.

"We were hit out of nowhere. The wall just exploded into flames and then they were all over us. We didn't hear them or see them; they were just there. Lt. Strauss was killed in the first few minutes. I saw sergeant Meyer take a knife to the throat, but I don't know where it came from. I-" I covered his mouth. I saw several shapes against the burning wall that did not look German. I point at them and the other two saw them. I aimed and squeezed off a burst. Adelheim did the same and the private fired a round from his Mauser. They all crumpled and fell. One of them started gurgling.

"Let's change positions!" I whispered. They nodded and we started moving out. We fell into another trench that had some bodies in it. There was a German and one of the local warriors. The warrior had some bullet wounds that were probably the cause of his death. The soldier had over a dozen stab wounds. We stayed in that trench looking for targets until the sun began to rise. Only then did we rise from our trench. The area was strewn with bodies. Mostly German soldiers but here and there lay an enemy corpse. The three that we fired on were enemies, thank God. We started looking for survivors and wounded men, but we couldn't find any other either. Not until later anyway. Soldiers started making their way out of dugouts and trenches and a few were outside the walls. The bodies were starting to smell and the civilians were starting to creep over. Shaffer was nowhere to be seen.

"Let's start collecting our dead! Sergeant Breuer, get me a count of the dead; ours and theirs!" It took about an hour for the bodies to be organized and covered. Sergeant Breuer found me a little after that.

"First Sergeant, we have forty five dead and I counted eight of theirs. Captain Shaffer and Lieutenant Strauss are both dead. Sergeants Hoffman, Voss, Wesel, and Meyer are also dead. I'm sorry to say this sir, but you're in command now."

"Thank you Sergeant, I understand." Most of the casualties are from the 16th company, not ours. This leaves me with seventy-two men left.

"First Sergeant! Here they come again!" I looked over to where a soldier was pointing. A group of maybe one hundred and fifty men were charging across our kill zone.

"Get in position! Kill those fuckers!" A few men had made their way onto the remains of the wall and opened fire with a machine gun, cutting down a large number of them. It was over in minutes. This was the kind of fight we originally thought we'd face. I sent a few soldiers to shoot any wounded that were still alive. When they got down there, they yelled back to me.

"First sergeant! Most of these guys don't have any weapons!" They weren't armed? Why the hell would they send unarmed people to attack us?" An explosion knocked me to the ground. It came from behind! I got up and ran to the source of the explosion.

"The granary is on fire! Put out the fire!" Yelled a woman. How the hell did they know where to hit us? This is insane! A bunch of civilians hurried to put out the fire. I ordered the soldiers to hang back and secure the area. We can't have all of us focused on one thing and get attacked again. A second explosion knocked me to the ground. A burning pain made my arm feel like it was inside hell itself. I looked down and found my entire arm past the elbow was gone and my upper arm was severely lacerated. I am no pussy. I've seen way too much shit in my life and dealt with it accordingly. I knew what I had to do. I pulled out a combat tourniquet and lashed it to my arm. It wasn't a great job, but it was okay for one hand. It stopped the bleeding and I got to my feet. The food supply was completely gone. Most of the people that were around it were pieces of burning meat.

"First Sergeant!" I could see corporal Schultz running over to me. He had a bandage around his head and his helmet was gone. He looked distressed, scared. I don't know why though. He stumbled and stopped. He coughed up blood and looked like he was caught on something. The ground moved and a wooden spike shot out of the ground and impaled him in the heart. He went still. What the fuck is going on here? People were screaming now, but I couldn't really see them. I've lost too much blood. I fell to my knees and looked around. My movements were sluggish, as if I was drunk. My vision is getting dark. I looked up and right in my face was Hiroshi. I haven't seen such a look of malice on a man since I saw my first SS trooper.

"And now you know the punishment for defying my word. Die in shame and disgrace!"

"Shame and disgrace? Is that the best you could come up with?" Anger burned in his eyes. He raised his sword and brought it down.

XXX

"Lord Hiroshi!" I turned from the body of the German soldier and looked at one of my Jonin.

"Yes what is it?" He bowed and made his report.

"The remaining Germans have surrendered. They are offering no resistance. What are your orders?"

"They're broken and they're friends lay slain. More bloodshed would be a waste of resources. Tend to any surviving Germans and start preparations to move the weapons and prisoners to Konoha. I want Hashirama training these German survivors in the ways of stealth. Their lack of Chakra makes them almost impossible to detect. They have so much potential as assassins, especially with their weapons." The Jonin nodded and jumped away. This was too easy. Average men can't compete with my nin. It's just a fact of the world we live in! I need to thank Hashirama for giving me some of his clansmen too. Things went smoother with them around. And now that I have weapons far beyond that of my enemies, I can use normal armies for much more then fodder. I hate getting my people killed, less people to work the fields and create the next generation.

I walked past the prisoners; most of them were civilians. I think we only captured forty soldiers, give or take a few. Most of the prisoners were wounded in some way. Their injuries would be an easy fix for the most part. They will serve me well.

Most of them are giving me looks like I'm some blood-sucking monster. That's unfair to say the least. Everything I have done here was for a purpose. I needed the weapons and experience these people had and this was the only way to get them. My entire goal in life is to make the Land of Fire great. Some may disapprove of my methods. Hashirama of the hidden leaf village is a critic of mine I'm sure. The Uchiha clan supports me though and that is enough. The prisoners have started their long march to Konoha. I'm sure Hashirama will treat them well. He's too good of a person. But as long as they do their jobs I have no problem with how nicely they're treated. My nation will be ahead of the others until the end of time!

XXX

"It's over Sergeant Mueller. I think we need to get the hell out of here." Damn it Kaufmann! He's been saying that since the second attack started. All this preparation and I only got to kill two enemies. What a waste. My countrymen are being led out in chains, guarded by well over fifty enemy personnel. If so few could defeat our people, then the five of us don't have a snowballs chance in hell of freeing them. We waited until the column was in the trees and no longer in our line of sight. Kaufmann was still pestering me.

"ALRIGHT WISE ASS!" I was annoyed to shit with this wimp. "Here's my plan. We're going to wait here until tomorrow morning. At that time, we're going to head west until we find a place worth stopping. Leave all of your insignia, helmets, and anything you don't need here, weapons, ammo, and food. Understood?" There were four affirmatives. I don't know what the future holds for us, but it's going to be hard. We never should have left the fatherland. It is now; on the cusp of annihilation that I truly realize the coward I was for running in the first place. Now I have to run a second time. I pray to whatever God is up there that this is the last time.

_**Prologue**_

_**fin**_


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